Deliberate vs. opportunistic shooting of 3's

[CRBoiler]

I looked at the game logs, specifically at 3-point shooting. Yesterday was the worst we've done as a team at around 20% - hopefully an anomaly. In most of the other games it seems like at least one SG was ice cold, but others (not necessarily shooting specialists) made up for it.

My observation has been that we seem to shoot a higher percentage when we have several capable 3-point shooters out there who only shoot the open 3's that present themselves rather than having shooting specialists running all over the court at high speeds to get open in order to deliberately shoot 3's.

If having several guys shooting 3's opportunistically is more effective than having fewer guys shooting 3's deliberately, then why not just make it the game plan even more than we have so far? We have felt the pain of a streaky high-volume 3-point shooter going cold several times, including some losses last year. It seems like spreading the 3P attempts around more evenly with an emphasis on shooting open 3's may be more effective given the number of good shooters this year.

Of course, we will eventually start having close games, including some where we NEED to hit one or two 3's to spread things out... the need to shoot 3's deliberately. And I guess that's why you still have your 3-pt specialists shooting 3's deliberately in other games. They need to be able to be effective in that mode.

Anyway, just thinking through what 3-pt shooting principles may be best for our team, given our roster and what we've seen so far. What do you think?

 

[Dryfly88]

JMHO.... I think we are shooting the 3's too quickly in the possession. Work the ball inside and pass back out for a better more in the flow shot. We are coming down making one or two passes and jacking up the 3. I think we are a much more effective team when we play a little more deliberate pace.

 

[lbodel]

I looked at the game logs, specifically at 3-point shooting. Yesterday was the worst we've done as a team at around 20% - hopefully an anomaly. In most of the other games it seems like at least one SG was ice cold, but others (not necessarily shooting specialists) made up for it.

My observation has been that we seem to shoot a higher percentage when we have several capable 3-point shooters out there who only shoot the open 3's that present themselves rather than having shooting specialists running all over the court at high speeds to get open in order to deliberately shoot 3's.

If having several guys shooting 3's opportunistically is more effective than having fewer guys shooting 3's deliberately, then why not just make it the game plan even more than we have so far? We have felt the pain of a streaky high-volume 3-point shooter going cold several times, including some losses last year. It seems like spreading the 3P attempts around more evenly with an emphasis on shooting open 3's may be more effective given the number of good shooters this year.

Of course, we will eventually start having close games, including some where we NEED to hit one or two 3's to spread things out... the need to shoot 3's deliberately. And I guess that's why you still have your 3-pt specialists shooting 3's deliberately in other games. They need to be able to be effective in that mode.

Anyway, just thinking through what 3-pt shooting principles may be best for our team, given our roster and what we've seen so far. What do you think?

I think first and foremost, 3 point shooting is one of the most uncertain things in college basketball.

IU was a great example of this last year just because they relied on it so much. They led the Big Ten in 3 point shooting percentage, but it was hardly consistent. Some games, they shot 50%. Some games, they shot under 30%. And because of that, they won some big games and they lost some games they shouldn't have.

3 point shooting is not something you can live on and hope to perform consistently.

I think right now, they are letting things shake out. They're learning what is working and what is not. Painter wants the shooters to shoot and he's probably coaching them based off of it. I don't think you'll be seeing Purdue shoot 25+ 3s a game come Big Ten season.

 

[FiveWeight]

I looked at the game logs, specifically at 3-point shooting. Yesterday was the worst we've done as a team at around 20% - hopefully an anomaly. In most of the other games it seems like at least one SG was ice cold, but others (not necessarily shooting specialists) made up for it.

My observation has been that we seem to shoot a higher percentage when we have several capable 3-point shooters out there who only shoot the open 3's that present themselves rather than having shooting specialists running all over the court at high speeds to get open in order to deliberately shoot 3's.

If having several guys shooting 3's opportunistically is more effective than having fewer guys shooting 3's deliberately, then why not just make it the game plan even more than we have so far? We have felt the pain of a streaky high-volume 3-point shooter going cold several times, including some losses last year. It seems like spreading the 3P attempts around more evenly with an emphasis on shooting open 3's may be more effective given the number of good shooters this year.

Of course, we will eventually start having close games, including some where we NEED to hit one or two 3's to spread things out... the need to shoot 3's deliberately. And I guess that's why you still have your 3-pt specialists shooting 3's deliberately in other games. They need to be able to be effective in that mode.

Anyway, just thinking through what 3-pt shooting principles may be best for our team, given our roster and what we've seen so far. What do you think?

My totally-unqualified, back-seat coaching senses were telling me the exact same thing. Very well stated. I see some benefits to trying out a few early 3's, but would think in a tough game that they go to their strength on the inside and wear the opponents down with power and depth.

 

[tjreese]

JMHO.... I think we are shooting the 3's too quickly in the possession. Work the ball inside and pass back out for a better more in the flow shot. We are coming down making one or two passes and jacking up the 3. I think we are a much more effective team when we play a little more deliberate pace.

In the last game I was thinking ...maybe Matt ought to tell Kendall to not even think about a three unless absolutely taunted with an open shot. Then in the first half I saw Kendall do exactly that. He pulled up for a couple and looked like he was trying to do other things.

Purdue just tried to put Lehigh out too quickly. Several players...almost the whole team settled too quickly for a shot..many not doing the things prior to catching a ball that needed done to be able to shoot quickly...like footwork. I think the Lehigh game was one where there wasn't a lot of focus. Perhaps that is to be expected, not tolerated, but not surprised either in that the game was sandwiched between a tourney championship and the ACC challenge. How many air balls did Caleb shoot. BTW...it appears to me that his shot is a little different than in earlier games in that it is more to the side of his head with more thrust and less lift? Anyway, I think Purdue in the Lehigh game had many open looks but was unfocused enough that players had not done the things in advance to have the full arsenal of time that was allotted due to the available time.

During warm-ups I noticed just how hard and fast Lehigh was warming up. The warmup drill they were doing implied to me that they would be a dribble drive team since the warm up drill created that scenario. As I watched the game I thought there were some similarities to IU other than Lehigh didn't look to score as much in transition, but they still had a very quick guard that would penetrate and look to pitch. The only problem was...IU would hit many of the shots Lehigh missed and so that game will give some good film to review. I expect Purdue to be much more focused Tuesday and to shoot better in the Pitt gym than Saturday at Purdue.

IU has never won three games in a row in football in my entire life and rarely won two games in a row it seems. Perhaps the basketball team was just in a state of shock even though they should have been prepared to lose the football game. It was quite a shocking event...